What is Self-Care?
According to Google Trends, the number of searches for “self-care” has nearly quadrupled since 2018. If you think you’ve been hearing more about self-care lately, you’re right. Self-care involves taking intentional actions to prioritize and maintain your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It means taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can be well, you can do your job, you can help and care for others, and you can do all the things you need to and want to accomplish in a day. It includes activities and practices that help you relax, recharge, and reduce stress. Examples of self-care include yoga, getting yourself a present, journaling, doing a hobby that you love, spending time with people that you love, cooking your favorite meal, and more. Practicing self-care is important because it can improve your overall quality of life and help you better support and care for others.
Why is Self-Care Important?
There’s often a misunderstanding that self-care is selfish or an egocentric practice. In reality, self-care is absolutely necessary in order for us to be well and have a positive impact on the environment around us. While it's important to strike a balance between caring for yourself and caring for others, neglecting self-care can lead to burnout and make it challenging to effectively care for others. Just like on an airplane, where you are instructed to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others, self-care is about ensuring you are in a good physical and mental state so that you can be there for others when needed. When it comes to your mental health, self-care can help you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy.
Can Self-Care Become Selfish?
Self-care is about recognizing when you need to take care of yourself and doing so without harming or neglecting others. Self-care and looking after your own mental health and well-being is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Yes, you've read that taking care of yourself needs to be a priority. But you may have many people or things vying for your attention. As a result, focusing on yourself seems unnecessary — even selfish sometimes. You also may have been raised in a family in which denying oneself was respected and even encouraged. It’s time to let go of this thought process. Without self-care, you are not filling up your cup with the things that you need. When you begin to hope and expect others to care for you, that can be self-centered. However, caring for yourself is not.
Emotional Resolution with Cedric Bertelli
Self-care can take place in many forms including therapy and learning to conquer your emotions. If you’re ready to take the next step forward on your self-care journey, you can schedule a session with Cedric Bertelli HERE. These sessions aim to resolve one or several emotional patterns and lift the impact of past trauma, resolve emotional difficulties (such as phobias, nervousness, stress, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, rage, jealousy, hypervigilance, anger, worry, rumination, inhibition, and others).